Quantifying training load and its relationship to heart rate recovery

Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-218).Scientific research is playing an increasingly important role in the development of optimal exercise training programmes that meet specific goals within specified times. Improving the accuracy of training prescription first involves quantifying what the athlete is currently doing. Secondly, it needs to be established whether or not the athlete is adapting favourably to the training programme. This thesis investigated current methods of quantifying training load, and proposed the use of heart rate recovery to monitor the physiological response to training. The quantification of exercise training may involve athletes self-reporting their exercise

A faunal analysis of the frazier site, an agate basin-age bison kill-butchery site in northeastern Colorado

The Frazier site (5WL268) was excavated in the late 1960s under the direction of Dr. H. Marie Wormington and represents the only known Agate Basin-age (ca. 10,000 years B.P.) bison kill-butchery site in Colorado. As such, it provides important information about Late Paleoindian subsistence on the High Plains. Left astragali indicate that a minimum of fort-four bison (B. antiquus) was killed at the site and measurements taken on the calcanea and metacarpals suggest the archaeofauna is largely comprised of demales and immature animals. While Wormington interpreted the site as a secondary processing area, bison skeletal part frequencies, bone breakage patterns and butchery evidence provide a refined picture of the site\u27s function, suggesting instead that it represents a kill locale. This interpretation is strengthened by a comparison with other Agate Basin site appears to reflect the selective removal of high-utility upper limb elements only, the skeletal element profile from the Frazier site suggests a scenario in which both high-utility upper limb elements and low-utility metapodials were transported from the site. Such behavior may be indicative of seasonal differences in bison carcass utility related to the Frazier site\u27s occupation late in the cold season (late winter-early spring)

Effect of Feedlots on Water Quality

The effect of feedlot runoff on water quality was examined. Samples were collected from river feedlots and offshore from lake feedlots and compared with samples from appropriate control sites. Bacterial contamination, as measured by the total coliform test over two successive summers, exhibited significant variation between feedlot and control sites. Coliform levels at lake sites adjacent to feedlots were double the levels at control sites; while in river systems average coliform levels downstream from feedlots were approximately 17 times the upstream controls

Fitness and body composition profiling of elite junior South African rugby players

Objective. The aim of this study was to describe the body composition, strength and speed characteristics of elite junior South African rugby players. Design. Cross-sectional. Setting. Field study. Subjects. Rugby players (16 and 18 years old, N = 174) selected for the South African Rugby Union National Green Squad. Outcome measures. Body composition, 10 m and 40 m speed, agility, 1RM bench press, underhand pull-ups, push-ups, multistage shuttle run. Results. The under-16 players were on average shorter (175.6 ± 5.7 v. 179.2 ± 6.7 cm), weighed less (76.5 ± 8.2 v. 84.8 ± 8.3 kg) had less upper body absolute strength (77.1 ± 11.8 kg v. 95.3 ± 16.7 kg) and muscular endurance (41 ± 12 v. 52 ± 15 push-ups) and aerobic fitness (87.1 ± 19.4 v. 93.5 ± 15.3 shuttles) than the under-18 players. There were no differences in body fat, sprinting speed (10 m and 40 m) or agility between the two age groups. There were differences between playing positions, with the props having the most body fat, strongest upper bodies, slowest sprinting speed, least agility and lowest aerobic capacity compared with players in the other positions. Conclusion. This study provides data for elite junior rugby players and can be used to monitor the progression of players after intervention while also assisting with talent identification for the different playing positions